25 Fascinating Facts About Minnesota: Part 2

The first Aerial Ferry was put into Operation on April 9, 1905, over the ship canal between Duluth to Minnesota Point. It had room enough to accommodate 6 automobiles. Round trip took 10 min. Image Source: <A href="http://www.shorpy.com/node/4348" target="_blank">Shorpy</a>
Tonka Trucks were developed and are continued to be manufactured in Minnetonka. Image Source: <a href="http://social.entertainment.msn.com/movies/blogs/the-hitlist-blogpost.aspx?post=a0311b14-79d6-4b1f-b5ee-2d0d7abd0b20" target="_blank">MSN</a>
For many years, the world's largest twine ball has sat in Darwin. It weighs 17,400 pounds, is twelve feet in diameter, and was the creation of Francis A. Johnson. Image Source: <A href="http://twineball.wordpress.com/2007/06/23/day-8-%E2%80%93-railroad-museum-and-the-twine-ball/" target="_blank">Wordpress</a>
Introduced in August 1963, The Control Data 6600, designed by Control Data Corp., was the first Super Computer. It was used by the military to simulate nuclear explosions and break Soviet codes. These computers also were used to model complex phenomena such as hurricanes and galaxies. A Fortran compiler known as MNF (Minnesota Fortran) was developed by Lawrence A. Liddiard and E. James Mundstock at the University of Minnesota for the 6600. Image Source: <A href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CDC_6600" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>
Rollerblades were the first commercially successful in-line Roller Skates. Minnesota students Scott and Brennan Olson invented them in 1980, when they were looking for a way to practice Hockey during the off-season. Their design was an ice hockey boot with 3 inline wheels instead of a blade.
The first intercollegiate basketball game was hosted by Hamline University on February 9, 1895.
In 1919 a Minneapolis factory turned out the nations first armored cars.
Image Source: <a href="http://jrc-1138.blogspot.com/2010/01/multi-turreted-tanks.html" target="_blank">Blogspot</a>
Hormel Company of Austin marketed the first canned ham in 1926. Hormel introduced Spam in 1937. Image Source: <a href="http://www.spam.com/" target="_blank">SPAM</a>
Candy maker Frank C. Mars of Minnesota introduced the Milky Way candy bar in 1923. Mars marketed the Snickers bar in 1930 and introduced the 5 cent Three Musketeers bar in 1937. The original 3 Musketeers bar contained 3 bars in one wrapper. Each with different flavor nougat.
A Jehovah's Witness was the first patient to receive a transfusion of artificial blood in 1979 at the University of Minnesota Hospital. He had refused a transfusion of real blood because of his religious beliefs. Image Source: <a href="http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/Issues/2010/October/ArtificialBlood.asp" target="_blank">Royal Society of Chemistry</a>
Bloomington (Met Stadium) and Minneapolis (HHH Metrodome) are the two farthest north latitude cities to ever host a World Series game.
Minnesota has one recreational boat per every six people, more than any other state. Image Source: <a href="http://www.startribune.com/local/west/164836776.html" target="_blank">Star Tribune</a>
There are 201 Mud Lakes, 154 Long Lakes, and 123 Rice Lakes commonly named in Minnesota. Image Source: <a href="http://www.judyhelgen.com/more-on-ponds/" target="_blank">Judy Helgen</a>
The Hull-Rust mine in Hibbing became the largest open-pit mine in the world. Image Source: <a href="http://www.ironrange.org/things-to-do/hull-rust-mahoning-view" target="_blank">Iron Range Tourism</a>
Akeley is birthplace and home of world's largest Paul Bunyan Statue. The kneeling Paul Bunyan is 20 feet tall. He might be the claimed 33 feet tall, if he were standing. Image Source: <a href="http://www.flickriver.com/places/United+States/Minnesota/Akeley/" target="_blank">Flickriver</a>
Minnesota's waters flow outward in three directions: north to Hudson Bay in Canada, east to the Atlantic Ocean, and south to the Gulf of Mexico. Image Source: <a href="http://geology.com/state-map/minnesota.shtml" target="_blank">Geology.com</a>
At the confluence of the Big Fork and Rainy Rivers on the Canadian border near International Falls stands the largest Indian burial mound in the upper midwest. It is known as the Grand Mound historic site. Image Source: MN Historical Society
Author Laura Ingalls Wilder lived on Plum Creek near Walnut Grove. Image Source: NBC
Hibbing is the birthplace of the American bus industry. It sprang from the business acumen of Carl Wickman and Andrew "Bus Andy" Anderson - who opened the first bus line (with one bus) between the towns of Hibbing and Alice in 1914. The bus line grew to become Greyhound Lines, Inc. Image Source: Raymond Loewy
The first official hit in the Metrodome in Minneapolis was made by Pete Rose playing for the Cincinnati Reds in a preseason game. Image Source: NBC Sports
Polaris Industries of Roseau invented the snowmobile. Image Source: <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Polaris_snowmobile_1965.JPG" Wikimedia</a>
Twin Cities-based Northwest Airlines (Now merged with Delta) was the first major airline to ban smoking on international flights.
Alexander Anderson of Red Wing discovered the processes to puff wheat and rice giving us the indispensable rice cakes.
In 1898, the Kensington Runestone was found on the farm of Olaf Ohman, near Alexandria. The Kensington Runestone carvings allegedly tell of a journey of a band of Vikings in 1362.
The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA) is a 1.09 million acre wilderness area where there are no roads and no motors allowed. The BWCA is renowned as a destination for both canoeing in the summer and cross country skiing in the winter. It is the most visited wilderness in the United States. Image Source: BWCA